SkySpecs takes top prize at Michigan Clean Energy Venture Challenge

SkySpecs has taken another top prize in local business plan competition and tens of thousands of dollars more in seed capital with it. The downtown Ann Arbor-based start-up recently took the top prize worth $50,000 at the Michigan Clean Energy Venture Challenge. It also took third place in the student portion of the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition, worth $10,000. The company, founded by University of Michigan students, is developing unmanned aerial vehicles that use artificial intelligence to gather data in hazardous locations, such as collecting structural data in hard to reach places under bridges. A2B Bikeshare, another U-M student-led start-up, took second place at the Michigan Clean Energy Venture Challenge. The showing was worth $15,000 in seed capital for the bike-sharing start-up. The Michigan Clean Energy Venture Challenge is a business plan competition co-founded by the University of Michigan and DTE Energy. The competition, in its fifth year, aims to serve as a springboard for Michigan's college students to launch sustainability-oriented start-ups. This year it attracted participants from a broad range of colleges across the Great Lakes State, including Michigan State University and Western Michigan University. "We were able to reach across the state," says Amy Klinke, assistant director at the University of Michigan's Center for Entrepreneurship. "We had 70 teams apply this year." Source: Amy Klinke, assistant director at the University of Michigan's Center for Entrepreneurship Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.